The Last Petrova

Turn It Off

Present Day

Sixteen seconds left on the clock. And I still haven't made up my mind.

If Elena weren't Elena, if she were my actual daughter, April, or a girl I had actually raised, like Marie, there wouldn't have been anything to think about. An eternity of compulsion by Klaus or not, I would have done anything to save them. I wouldn't have needed even a second to choose.

But Klaus is right. I've never even shared one proper conversation with this girl whom I know so little about. Over the course of my long life, I've let countless people die in front of me and I've never cared- hell, I've killed dozens of people myself, too. The only difference is that Elena is the symbol of what I've spent my entire existence fighting for.

"Elena, you're going to have run," Stefan says.

I stare back up at the clock. Nine. Eight. Seven.

"But Klaus said that if I run..." "I know what he said, but if you stay, it won't matter."

Six. Five. Four.

"Elena, please. There's no other way," Stefan pleads, tears filling his eyes. Elena shakes her head. "There is another way, Stefan. It's for you to fight," she says, grabbing his hands.

Three. Two. One.

A buzzer sounds.

"Stefan... I love you. Fight, Stefan. Don't give up," Elena says. "I can't hold it," Stefan says, clenching at his hair.

Stefan rushes at Elena. She screams, and I sit up. Stefan runs past Elena, and slams himself onto the opposite wall.

"Elena, run! Go!" Stefan yells.

Elena runs out. I can hear the sound of her feet, going from one hallway to the next. Stefan holds on to everything he can to stop himself, but his feet carry him out anyway, and I follow him. He rushes out of the gym and crashes from side to side through the hallways. I see Elena go in through a door with a small window in it-

Bloody hell.

I stop running as I see Klaus standing right behind Elena. Elena frowns at the expression on my face, then slowly turns around to glance over her shoulder. She trips and falls onto the ground and Klaus smiles at her pleasantly. "We've got to stop meeting like this," I hear him say.

From my right, I hear a crash. I run into the cafeteria, and see Stefan, breaking a broom over his knee. He rams the makeshift wooden stake into his gut, and falls to the floor.

The doors open behind me, and Klaus, who's pulling Elena by her arm, enters.

"Now this is fascinating. I've never seen this before," Klaus remarks. "The only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl." An ominous feeling runs through my veins. "Why don't you turn it off?" Klaus says, letting go of Elena.

"No!" Stefan yells, grunting in pain as he digs the stake deeper into his gut.

Klaus sits on a nearby table and smiles. "Come on. Your humanity is killing you," he says. "All the guilt must be exhausting... Turn it off," Klaus whispers.

"No!" Stefan repeats. "Stefan..." Elena says, as she tries to crawl over towards Stefan. I hold her back by her shoulders, and when I do, she starts to fight against me.

"Stefan!" Elena says. 

"You're strong," Klaus says, kneeling down next to Stefan. Stefan shouts out as Klaus pulls the stake out of him. "But you're not that strong," Klaus says.

"Let me go! Let me go!" Elena screams at me. "Elena- Elena, stop it!" I shout, throwing her onto the ground. She sobs, but get right back up and runs towards Stefan. I pull her back yet again.

"Turn. It. Off," Klaus compels Stefan. "No!" Stefan shouts. He pushes Klaus away, but Klaus holds his ground and slams Stefan against the wall.

"Turn it off!" Klaus roars. The next two seconds pass by impossibly slowly. Stefan closes his eyes... And when he opens them, there is no emotion in them. Just a pit of black and white emptiness.

"What did you do?" Elena sobs, still struggling against my grip.

Klaus smiles. "I fixed him. But I think a test is in order, don't you?" he says, turning back around towards Stefan.

"Ripper... Perhaps you'd like a drink," Klaus says to Stefan, who doesn't respond in any way, "From the doppelganger's neck?"

Without warning, Stefan's face changes as he rushes over to Elena and tears open her throat. She screams.

Then I snap his neck in two. 

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I leave Elena in the cafeteria and chase after Klaus, who's inside one of the classrooms.

"Well, the verdict's in. The Original witch says the doppelganger should be dead," Klaus says. I freeze, while Rebekah smiles and stands up.

"Does that mean we can kill her?" she asks cheerfully.

"No," I breathe, not in defiance, but in realization... 

"I've said this before, and I'll say it again- you continue to astound me with your brilliance," Klaus says to me. I run my hand through my hair while Rebekah turns towards Klaus.

"What do you mean?" she demands. "The Original witch said the doppelganger must die. So, I'm fairly certain it means we should do the opposite," Klaus says.

"What?" Rebekah says confusedly. Klaus shrugs. "Call it a hunch..." He produces a test tube containing blood, and hands it to Tyler. All of us- Rebekah, Tyler, Klaus, Caroline, and I all stare at the bottle containing...

"Elena's blood. Drink it," Klaus says to Tyler. "No! No, no, no, Tyler, don't!" Caroline shouts. 

"If he doesn't feed, he'll die anyway, love. Consider this an experiment," Klaus says.

Tyler hesitates, then opens up the vial and drinks the blood hungrily in one gulp.

"There we go. Good boy," Klaus says.

Tyler coughs, rolls over the desk, and falls to the floor, screaming and groaning and writhing. He holds his head and screams and his face finally changes. His eyes are glowing gold, he has fangs, and there are veins under his eyes...

"Well, that's a good sign," Klaus says.